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Updated: Aug 8, 2025
08:48
Flow Cytometric Analysis of Biomarkers for Detecting Human Sperm Functional Defects
Published on: April 21, 2022
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Age-related methylation changes in the human sperm epigenome
Laura Bernhardt1, Marcus Dittrich1,2, Andreas Prell1
1Institute of Human Genetics, Julius Maximilians University, Würzburg, Germany.
Aging
|February 27, 2023
Summary
Advanced paternal age alters sperm DNA methylation, impacting offspring neurodevelopment. These age-related changes in the sperm epigenome are linked to developmental and nervous system processes.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive biology
- Epigenetics
- Developmental biology
Background:
- Advanced paternal age is linked to adverse reproductive and offspring health outcomes.
- Epigenetic alterations in sperm, specifically DNA methylation, are implicated as a key mechanism.
- Understanding these age-related sperm epigenome changes is crucial for reproductive health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related DNA methylation patterns in human sperm.
- To identify specific genes and biological pathways affected by paternal aging.
- To explore the potential impact of these epigenetic changes on offspring neurodevelopment.
Main Methods:
- Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) was performed on 73 human sperm samples.
- Analysis identified age-related differentially methylated regions (ageDMRs) in the sperm epigenome.
- Statistical analyses correlated ageDMRs with gene locations and functional enrichments.
Main Results:
- 1,162 regions were hypomethylated and 403 were hypermethylated with increasing paternal age.
- The majority of ageDMRs were located within genic regions, affecting over 1,000 genes.
- Replicated ageDMRs were significantly enriched in biological processes related to development and the nervous system.
Conclusions:
- Paternal age-associated changes in sperm DNA methylation are widespread and affect genes involved in neurodevelopment.
- These findings support the hypothesis that paternal aging impacts offspring behavior and neurodevelopment via epigenetic mechanisms.
- Sperm ageDMRs show non-random distribution, with a notable enrichment on chromosome 19.
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